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Even in Ancient Russia, geese were one of the most numerous birds in the farmsteads. This was explained by the extreme profitability of the goose, which does not require feed in the summer. Geese are herbivorous birds. They don't even feed on duckweed and plankton, like ducks, but on coastal grass.
Geese need a reservoir. But not as a source of food. Grass is thicker near water bodies, it is easier to find food and hide from predators. Due to their body weight, geese find it difficult to mate on land and they prefer water. With "dry" mating, the number of fertilized eggs is reduced.
Russia has always been rich in reservoirs, so the geese did not know any problems. In the spring they bred goslings and grazed in the meadows all summer. And in the fall, the owner of the goose herd received free goose meat for the winter, slaughtering the grown young.
The goose may well live even in those farms that do not have the ability to provide him with access to the pond, since water bodies are vital for swans.
Although geese have been so popular in Russia since ancient times that they even got into fairy tales, geese of the Linda (Linda) breed were bred quite recently, in 1994.
This breed was bred in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which is why the Linda geese are sometimes also called Gorky geese. According to its productive characteristics, this breed turned out to be one of the best. The Linda geese were bred by crossing the local livestock with the Chinese white.
Geese linda, breed description with photo
Linda geese are large representatives of their species. An adult gander can weigh up to 12 kg. True, in most cases due to the large amount of fat. The usual weight of a goose is about 8 kg, a goose is 7 kg. Young growth at 3 months, by the time of the end of the summer period, is gaining 4 kg. Considering that the egg production of geese is from 50 eggs per year, in the most unfavorable scenario: 20% of hatched goslings, you can get a young bird with a total weight of 40 kg. At the same time, reference books claim that the fertility of eggs from geese of the Linda breed is 95%, and the hatchability is 70%. Thus, one goose will give 280 kg of young animals. Of course, the slaughter yield of meat will be lower, but about 180 kg of meat can be obtained.
As a result, the owner will be faced with the question of what to do with the products. To provide for a family and one or two geese is enough, but keeping such an amount is not accepted and usually several families are kept at the rate of 3 geese per 1 gander.
Lindas are white geese with a characteristic transition from beak to skull. If usually in all birds this transition is smoothed and makes up an almost straight line, then in Lindovian birds the transition is very sharp. One gets the impression that the beak is attached to the skull at a right angle, forming a bump typical of Linda geese.
In addition to the lump, the lind is also distinguished by the "chin" hanging under the beak.
Cones, similar to the cones of the Linda geese, also have the progenitors of the Linda breed - the Chinese white geese. But they do not have such a pronounced "chin".
Pictured is a Chinese white goose.
Advantages and disadvantages of Linda geese
The advantages of lind include their good frost resistance and ability to withstand 40-degree frosts, which makes geese of this breed indispensable for breeding at home in the northern regions.A private trader does not always have the opportunity to provide animals with warm wintering places. In the northern regions, the main requirement for the content goose breeds linda - no drafts.
Linda geese mature at 8 months, that is, the next year they begin to rush. Geese are good brood hens. And then they protect the chicks, so about 70% of the goslings survive.
In addition, Linda geese have a calm disposition, easily getting along with relatives.
The disadvantages include the inability to release goslings for grazing before they reach one and a half months and the tendency of the Lindovskaya breed to hymenolepiasis and vitamin deficiencies. In addition, these geese require a reservoir.
Features of the content
Lind needs a house with deep bedding, feeders and nests. The size of the house is made on the basis of 3 birds 2 m². In case of a large overcrowding of the livestock, the geese stop rushing, the herd begins to hurt or lose feathers. Nests are made in the size of 0.4x0.6x0.5 m. It is believed that a nest of this size is sufficient for 2 - 3 geese. If the egg is planned to be incubated, then yes. If the plans include natural incubation of eggs, then there should be one nest for each hen.
This is explained by the fact that:
- geese are likely to start laying eggs at different times;
- when two or more females collide in the nest, they fight for a place for laying eggs;
- during the struggle, the eggs are mixed at best, at worst - they break through with their claws;
Since eggs are laid at different times, when the first goose has already sat on the eggs, the last one is still laying. As a result, eggs have different incubation periods. In the process of incubating, the geese will mix the eggs together several times. Some eggs will be outside, cool down, the embryo will die, the geese will sit on these eggs again, leaving the next batch to cool. As a result, the goslings will not be at all.
Therefore, we must try to identify each goose by its own nest, although this does not always work out. Birds are stubborn and may try to communicate in the same place.
Incubation method for breeding geese
Eggs are laid in the incubator, which were laid no later than 10 days before incubation. In the bulk, geese rush every two days. For them to rush every day, they need a diet of compound feed for layers.
The question: how many geese are needed in the courtyard to completely fill the incubator, is decided depending on the capacity of the car and the goose diet.
The incubation regimes for other poultry species are different from those for breeding goslings. Even duck eggs, which have the maximum resemblance to goose eggs, incubate 2 days less.
For this reason, goose eggs cannot be incubated with any others and either the incubator must be filled to capacity, or it will not work at full capacity.
The temperature in the incubator for the first two weeks is kept at 37.8 ° C, maintaining a humidity of at least 60%. Turning eggs must be carried out at least 4 times a day and it is better to let the incubator itself perform this function. True, most incubators turn eggs every two hours. But given the fact that the hens themselves can move eggs up to 100 times a day, coups every 2 hours are not scary. Moreover, they are carried out for the sole purpose: so that the embryo does not adhere to the shell.
On the 28th day, the temperature is reduced to 37.5, and the humidity is increased to 85-90%. The humidity is increased in order to soften the shell of the egg and make it easier for the gosling to go outside.
Perhaps the temperature regime was not maintained, the temperature was somewhat lower than necessary, and the goslings did not have time to fully develop. In this case, they hatch a day or two later.
If you forcibly pull them out "on time", it may turn out that the yolk sac has not yet been completely drawn into the abdominal cavity, and blood is present in the vessels on the wall of the egg. Such goslings will die.
Linda geese diet
Feeding lind is not difficult, as they are practically omnivorous birds. It is better to feed goslings with starting broiler feed for up to 3 weeks, after which the goslings are transferred to regular feed for broilers. With this feeding, the goslings gain weight of 5 kg by 3 months.
Feeding goslings from day old
After a month and a half, when the goslings can be sent to pasture, the owner needs to decide what to feed the geese. Should I continue to give compound feed for the fastest gain in body weight, or is it better to wait a little longer, but on free grass.
After the goslings gain an average body weight of 7 kg, their growth is greatly slowed down and further keeping becomes unprofitable. If the bird is fattened for meat, it is slaughtered. If this is a self-repairing young growth, they are transferred to cheap feed.
How to determine the sex of geese
When selecting young animals for self-repair or buying fresh blood for your livestock, it is important to know how to distinguish a goose from a goose, since until the geese grow to full size, it can be difficult to figure out where the gander is and where the goose is. In addition, the gander may also be medium-sized. Therefore, a more correct way would be to establish the sex of the goose when checking the cloaca. The video clearly shows how the gander differs from the goose.
A new way to determine the sex of geese
Such mixtures produce a lot of meat, but reproductive functions must be checked.
Reviews of the owners of linda geese
Conclusion
The newly introduced breed of Linda geese meets the modern requirements of poultry farming: maximum weight in minimum time. When kept in private household plots from lind geese, you can get a significant amount of tasty meat for the winter.
